1 post tagged “umpc”

"Wireless Power"

http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070423/full/070423-11.html

What is the one tether holding us back from being truly wireless? The power cord of course.

Whether you just don't want to climb under your desk to plug in your laptop or, like Leo, you would be spending 25% of your time finding your phone's power adapter, the idea of wireless power is a major want of the tech friendly crowd. Over the past few years, several stories have been posted about various sheets that can be placed on your desk that will charge your devices when you place them on it. Most of these will not work directly and require some adapter on the device; which begs issues of extra weight and bulk. This is especially true when you take into account the various different modes of electricity that devices need to accept. Some major questions remain in this industry, but this is certainly and exciting technology that would be great to see.

Earthquake proofing the Net

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8OOSREO0.htm

While Pacific Rim countries seem to be doing well with respect to connectivity on the internet, many Asian countries of the Indian Ocean aren't that lucky. With the convergence of so many tectonic plates in the area, earthquakes and other geological events are quite common place and aren't exactly the most conducive for fault free connection. The recent earthquake north of Taiwan, for instance, managed to decrease that countries overall connectivity to the global network by nearly 75%. Seventeen telecom companies are now stepping up to the plate to build a new US$500,000,000 undersea cable to provide an alternate route and more secure route to the North American region. With luck and good planning not only is this a boost for speed but should allow the region faster recovery during times of disaster.

Shrunk in the Wash

http://www.dailytech.com/Article.aspx?newsid=7098

Data Evolution Computer, not to be confused with Digital Equipment Corporation, has entered the UMPC market with their offereing of the Cathena CX. Priced at US$799, this entry level UMPC tries to offer an affordable path for people not yet comfortable with the market but wanting to experience the utility of an Ultra Mobile. The device, which reminds me of a Lenovo tablet that has been shrunk in the wash, makes some questionable choices for save money. One maybe the choice of AMD over Intel on a Windows platform. To save power, the system is already clocked at a fairly low 500MHz, but when adding the cpu cycles wasted due to XP's optimization for Intel's pipelining, I would worry it runs with a feeling of something closer to 180MHz. While it's certainly a cute entry, I have to wonder if you are already paying this price tag, might a WM6 phone not give you the kind of mobility you are looking for with applications better suited to such a low level CPU.

Techocrati Tags : Geek, UMPC, Tech